Young Lady Cougars eye bright future

BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Hazleton Area seniors, from left, Erin Potoskie, Maddie Mrochko, Mia Cundro and Diamond Truluck are all smiles after the Lady Cougars captured the District 2/4 Class 6A girls’ basketball championship with a win over Scranton on March 4 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

BOB GAETANO / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Hazleton Area senior Maddie Mrochko poses with her family after scoring her 1,000th career point Friday night in the Lady Cougars’ state playoff game against Neshaminy in Berwick. From left are mother Faith Mrochko, sister Julia Mrochko, and father Gregg Mrochko.

Basketball is about more than just knocking down shots. It’s about imposing your will on your opponent, and not letting them be comfortable in doing what they normally do.

For the second time in three years, that is what Neshaminy was able to do to Hazleton Area in the opening round of the state tournament.

Utilizing their length and physicality, both in the press and in the half-court game, the Redskins knocked the Lady Cougars around, and ultimately out of the PIAA Class 6A Girls’ Basketball Tournament.

Friday night in Berwick, the District 1 squad muscled the Lady Cougars into a 9-for-39 shooting performance and got them to turn it over 17 times, holding the locals to their lowest scoring output of the season.

The 41-28 setback ended an up-and-down season at Hazleton Area, one that will remembered most for the team’s first-ever District 2/4 championship in Class 6A.

“They’re a good team, no question about it,” Lady Cougars head coach Joe Gavio said of Neshaminy. “They make you do things. Their length got to us, their athleticism. It’s hard getting shots against them. They’re just better, more solid than we are right now.”

While the Lady Cougars scrapped and clawed throughout the game, and their heart was never in question, they were never able to find their comfort zone against a team that prides itself on defense. It’s the type of play — rugged District 1 play — that they’re not used to seeing.

“I give them credit. Their defense, it was so tough and it was so hard to score,” said Hazleton Area’s Maddie Mrochko, one of just four seniors on the Lady Cougar roster.

Down 34-21 midway through the

fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars (15-10) got a putback from senior Diamond Truluck before Mrochko knocked down her second 3-pointer from the corner, marking the 1,000th point of her career. It brought the pro-Cougar crowd to its feet, and pulled Hazleton Area within eight points (34-26) with 3:10 to play.

“When she makes that shot with three minutes to go, I’m thinking we’re in it,” Gavio said.

But sophomore Emily Tantala came right down and buried her own 3-pointer from the right of the key, halting Hazleton Area’s momentum and in essence, its state tournament run with the basket.

Gavio admitted the Lady Cougars had their chances, but never performed to the level they had in their subregional playoff wins over Williamsport and Scranton.

“We’d have to play a good game, and I don’t think we did,” Gavio said. “It wasn’t for a lack of effort. They were hustling all over the place. But a couple times we broke down.

“To start the game, a back-door layup. We let Harvey get two threes off the out of bounds play. She’s the shooter. One time we didn’t get back. There’s 10 points right there,” he said, referring to the 25-12 hole they dug for themselves by halftime. “And with the foul shots. In the first half we were 4-for-10 and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. You’ve got to make those against this team.”

Gavio praised his team’s effort afterward.

“We were playing our best ball coming in, and that’s a real good team. We hung in there despite not playing good, not making fouls. That shows a big heart, a team that was really coming on and playing better,” Gavio said. “They could have easily quit against a good team and they didn’t.

“Neshaminy lost their last three games (by a combined 11 points) to get to that spot, or else they would have been District 1 champions. They beat Harrisburg, and they’re District 3 5A champs,” Gavio said. “They’re a really good team.”

Milestone for Maddie

Although the season ended sooner than they had hoped, the Lady Cougars did have a reason to celebrate Friday.

Needing seven points to reach 1,000 for he career coming in, Mrochko had fans on the edge of their seats with her every shot before she finally reached the milestone with just over three minutes to play.

“She had a great career. She did a lot of good things. It was really nice to see her get it,” Gavio said, “especially because I knew and she knew, this wasn’t going to be easy.”

Added Mrochko: “The 1,000 points probably was a little in the back of my head, but I thought everyone was struggling to score and it was a low-scoring game.”

Appropriately, her milestone basket came on a 3-pointer. It was the 66th of the season and the 151st of her three-year career.

“I’ve wanted this since literally the eighth grade,” Mrochko said, still clutching the ball she was presented afterward. “I even have it in a little journal, and it says get to 1,000. It being only three years and I made it, I’m so proud of myself. It feels amazing.”

It came in the toughest of circumstances.

“I honestly started crying on the floor,” she said. “It was literally the hardest game I ever had, and all the emotions let out.”

Friday marked the end of a three-year run in which she won two district championships, one in Class 4A and one in 6A, and reached two state tournaments. She has decided to focus on academics at the next level, majoring in nursing at Bloomsburg University in the fall.

“It hasn’t hit me yet that I’m never going to play again,” she said. “I’m going to miss this, my teammates, high school, basketball and Gav so much.”

Diamond in the rough

Another senior who will miss it is Truluck, who evolved into a solid contributor in her first and only varsity season.

The 5-foot-10 forward made a handful of starts, but was more important as the first big girl off the bench for Gavio, scoring inside, blocking shots, rebounding and running the floor for the Lady Cougars.

“I did really enjoy it,” she said Friday. “This was my first year of really wanting to play varsity, and I tried my best. This year was like a roller coaster. It really had its ups and its downs. But we still got in there and I’m so happy. I really had fun.”

Program players Mia Cundro and Erin Potoskie also got to play in their final career games for HAHS on Friday, and each won district gold medals as a reward for their hard work this season.

Promising future

Although the seniors will be missed, the Lady Cougars bring back a ton of talented players who gained big-time experience, making for a bright future.

Junior two-year starter Virginia Yurchak, late bloomer Diane Garnett, 3-point threat Abby Valente and 6-2 Veronica Pecora return for a final season, and the hope is that junior classmate Katie Lipinski will also be back after suffering a season-ending knee injury early on.

Sophomores Marissa Trivelpiece, Faith Grula and Kyra Antolick provided the bulk of the Lady Cougars’ scoring, rebounding and tough play in the paint. And freshman guards Olivia Wolk and Brooke Boretski gave the team a lot of spark, defense and ball handling coming off the bench.

“At one time we had two freshmen and three sophomores in the game,” Gavio said. “I like the way they’re flying all over the place. You’ve got people coming up. You’ve got people getting better. We’re still going to be young next year, but no longer inexperienced. We had a year now.”

Gavio’s big question: What do you do with that experience?

“If we stay the same, we’ll be OK. But if you want to make it back here and further, you’ve got to work,” he said. “They’ve got to work on their game a little bit. You’ve got to get in the back yard every day and shoot a little bit. We have to find some shooters, we need to get bigger, and we need to get more physical.”

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